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Defence lawyers convinced a judge to impose reporting restrictions as the case was incomplete, meaning the ECHO can only now report the appalling findings.

In the meantime, 30 James Street has closed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the court was told its parent company, Signature Living Hotel Limited, has gone into administration.

30 James Street restaurant Carpathia offers views of the Three Grace, the Royal Albert Dock and the River Mersey. (Image: Carpathia)

David Birrell, prosecuting, said 30 James Street styled itself "as a luxury Titanic themed hotel" which was outwardly "smart and plush", however, "those appearances were deceiving" and "the position behind the scenes was very different" on March 7, 2018.

He said: "When Environmental Health officers from the council visited, the kitchens were filthy and infested with mice. The officers found dead mice and mouse droppings.

"The droppings were found throughout the hotel, from top to bottom. Droppings were found close to areas where food was being prepared, causing a risk of contamination.

"Conditions were so grave that the kitchens were shut down because they presented an 'imminent risk to health'."

Mouse droppings in pots and pans at Signature Living's 30 James Street hotel found during a council inspection in March 2018 (Image: Liverpool City Council)

In the Carpathia Kitchen on the building's eighth floor, where chefs were busy preparing food, photos showed mouse droppings, hair and food debris on the floor and work surfaces.

There was grease, hair and food debris on the floor underneath the pass, where food is kept prior to being served, and on the pass itself.

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An inspector discovered dirty pots and pans with "numerous mouse droppings inside the pans" and a build-up of grease on a cooker.

The ground floor Grand Hall Kitchen, used for mass catered events, was "similarly filthy", with "dead mice lying in a pool of built-up grease and food debris", a "deep fat fryer covered in grease" and a "filthy" wall and floor next to the washing up sink.

Mouse droppings in pots and pans at Signature Living's 30 James Street hotel found during a council inspection in March 2018 (Image: Liverpool City Council)

The basement storage area also revealed "very unclean" surfaces, while food was stored in open bags where mice were active, and elsewhere droppings were inside a fridge and on a shelf next to crockery.

Mr Birrell said the lack of cleanliness was in contravention of the hotel's 'Clean As You Go' policy and a "systemic failure".

"Food was being stored, handled and prepared in areas where mice were active, thereby giving rise to a risk of contamination and of harm to customers."

Filthy conditions in kitchens at Signature Living's 30 James Street hotel found during a council inspection in March 2018 (Image: Liverpool City Council)

With the consent of 30 James Street, the kitchens were shut down that day.

Investigations then revealed it had not followed the recommendations of pest control reports issued as far back as January 2016.

Mr Birrell said this showed "rodents had been active in the hotel more or less continuously" for two years and the company had also failed to fill in gaps, holes and spaces, where rodents got in.

The following day, 30 James Street's managing director Sue Wright told inspectors the mice infestation was caused by the "budget" hotel next door, Day's Inn.

However, inspectors found no evidence the problems came from Day's Inn, which had just received the highest possible food hygiene rating.

30 James Street was hit with a zero-star rating, but after "extensive remedial work", its kitchens were allowed to reopen on March 13.

Council officers returned on September 18, 2018, when "conditions had improved, but not by much", as they found further evidence of mice and inadequate pest control procedures.

Mr Birrell said 30 James Street also "sought to blame" its head chef - "a cynical attempt to avoid liability, which did not stand up to scrutiny" - as he was only appointed six months earlier and left shortly after the March inspection.

Lawrence Kenwright on the roof terrace of the 30 James Street Hotel. Picture by Jason Roberts

Nigel Lawrence, defending, said the hotel's management had been aware of the problems with mice - widespread across the city at the time - and tried to tackle the issue.

However, he said incorrect information about the cleanliness of the kitchens was reported to them by staff.

Today he said 30 James Street, which has no previous convictions, was "still alive" but may not survive, and asked for a "fairly lengthy period of time" to pay any fines and costs.

He said: "Any financial penalty will have a significant impact on a company that's literally on its knees and may or may not survive."

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Judge Garrett Byrne said he agreed there were "systemic" failures at the 63-bedroom, Grade II Listed Building.

He said the cleaning policy was ignored and senior management and the hotel's owners appeared "to have failed to adequately take ownership of the issue and take steps to rectify it".

The judge said they did not act on pest control recommendations nor follow their own policies, which were "serious failures", and by September 2018 had not fully rectified problems, despite having six months to do so.

Judge Byrne said: "If customers eating at the hotel in early 2018 saw the photographs which the court has seen, they would have been rightly concerned, to say the least.

"This was a serious lapse on the part of management."

One of the dead mice found in a kitchen at Signature Living's 30 James Street hotel during a council inspection in March 2018 (Image: Liverpool City Council)

He added: "At times, members of the senior management team appeared to have tried to deflect attention away from their own failings by seeking to unfairly attribute blame on others, including a chef who had only worked there for several months, and onto a smaller, adjoining budget hotel."

Judge Byrne said he did not accept the defence submission that the real fault lay with kitchen staff, who it was suggested had incorrectly completed check forms.

He said: "The real failure appears to be that the representations being made by the kitchen staff were not being adequately verified by a member of management by way of regular visual checks."

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The judge added: "There was in the court's view, a systemic deficiency in the management processes regarding cleanliness."

Judge Byrne accepted management tried to solve the problems and by last December, the hygiene level was deemed to be "adequate" by the council.

He said 30 James Street showed a turnover of around £5m in 2017 and 2018, with a pre-tax profit in the two years respectively of £622,047 and £830,777, with assets over current liabilities of £1,511,468 and £1,004,234

Judge Byrne said he would have fined the company £68,000 in December, but the business was now in "very different and exceptional circumstances".

He said the hotel was closed on March 20 and many staff furloughed due to coronavirus and it was not clear when it may reopen, if at all.

The judge said Signature Living Hotel Limited was now in administration, 30 James Street in receivership, and it would be "wrong to impose a fine that could contribute to the demise of the hotel", if there was any prospect it may reopen.

Judge Byrne said reduced the fines by half and ordered the hotel to pay £34,000, plus £26,877 towards the costs of the council's investigation.